In an address at the conservative Heritage Foundation, Cruz referenced remarks from deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes.

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“This is probably the biggest thing President Obama will do in his second term on foreign policy," Rhodes had said in January about securing a deal. "This is healthcare for us, just to put it in context."

Talks over Iran's nuclear program were extended through June 2015 after negotiators failed to reach an agreement by the self-imposed Nov. 24 deadline.

"What does it say that the government is happily negotiating with the Iranian mullahs while allowing an American journalist to stay in the squalor of an Iranian prison?" Cruz said, referencing Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, who has been detained by Iran.

"What does it say about the values and strengths of this administration?" he continued.

"We need more stick and a whole lot less carrot," he added.

Cruz, who is weighing a 2016 presidential run, used his speech Wednesday to show his foreign policy chops while linking Obama to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for the White House if she chooses to run.

"Today, the consequences of the Obama-Clinton foreign policy is that our friends no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us," Cruz said.

He referenced a 2009 incident where Clinton gave Russia's foreign minister a "reset button" to signal warming ties. The label on the button, though, was labeled "overcharged" in Russian.

"At times they spoke truth without even realizing it," Cruz said.

Cruz also called for the U.S. to provide lethal aid to Ukraine to stand against Russia.

"Russia has already been provoked," Cruz said of Obama's handling of the situation. "Weakness is provocative."

Cruz accused the Obama administration of "wholesale abdication of any moral high ground" on foreign policy.

"In the Obama-Clinton foreign policy, all members of the international community are equal, be they nations or not," he said.